[Wolfheart]

Hello guys,

It's been raining cats and dogs in Mumbai. This morning I was surprised to find a tiny animal crawling amongst a pile of clothes that were kept on my bed. It had claws and was clinging to one of my shirts that had been taken off the clothesline yesterday. I looked closer and figured that it was a very small baby bat. Hardly bigger than a one rupee coin!

I have no idea how to care for a baby bat. I googled for information and also called the vet. The vet advised me to let go of it because bats are known to carry rabies and other viruses. However I just couldn't let the little dude go. I almost made up my mind to care for it till it's big enough to fly away. However, since I have a pet cat at home who would probably eat it up I had to let it go.

I put him in a cardboard box stuffed with old socks so that it would be warm and called the local animal rescue (Karuna) and handed it over to them. I made sure that the Karuna folks knew how to care for it. I have absolutely no idea as to what I should have fed it. It seems that they already have another baby bat that they are nursing. So I finally let it go. I was a little sad because I lost an opportunity to have a pet bat.(That would have been pretty cool).

Anyway, do any of you guys have any experience caring for bats? If yes please post the infor here so that I'll be much better prepared the next time. (We have huge colonies of bats living in mango trees nearby). Let's also use this thread to share information about the care and assistance of other animals in need!

[Swordfish]

Looks like you tried your best to keep the bat I never heard of bats as pets. I had the idea that they like to be in the wild/open since they hunt at night mostly feed on an a variety of insects.

[shankar.balan]

Bats usually and for the most part eat fruit. In this case a tiny baby bat may not have reacted very well to fruit fed the normal way. Hence, one could perhaps consider trying out a diet of banana mashed in diluted milk and feed the little chap using a dropper/ ink filler/ syringe.
Read Gerald Durrells books and you will find that he used several such techniques to care for various baby animals that he used to get when he was in the wilds on his conservation and wildlife preservation work.

Karuna is a good organization - even here in Bangalore they do some great work. So does CUPA. But most organizations of this kind, however good, would be quite fazed I am sure, to handle the less common fauna - such as bats.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

Hello guys,

It's been raining cats and dogs in Mumbai. This morning I was surprised to find a tiny animal crawling amongst a pile of clothes that were kept on my bed. It had claws and was clinging to one of my shirts that had been taken off the clothesline yesterday. I looked closer and figured that it was a very small baby bat. Hardly bigger than a one rupee coin!

I have no idea how to care for a baby bat. I googled for information and also called the vet. The vet advised me to let go of it because bats are known to carry rabies and other viruses. However I just couldn't let the little dude go. I almost made up my mind to care for it till it's big enough to fly away. However, since I have a pet cat at home who would probably eat it up I had to let it go.

I put him in a cardboard box stuffed with old socks so that it would be warm and called the local animal rescue (Karuna) and handed it over to them. I made sure that the Karuna folks knew how to care for it. I have absolutely no idea as to what I should have fed it. It seems that they already have another baby bat that they are nursing. So I finally let it go. I was a little sad because I lost an opportunity to have a pet bat.(That would have been pretty cool).

Anyway, do any of you guys have any experience caring for bats? If yes please post the infor here so that I'll be much better prepared the next time. (We have huge colonies of bats living in mango trees nearby). Let's also use this thread to share information about the care and assistance of other animals in need!

[Wolfheart]

I have seen two kinds of bats near my house. The big fruit eating bats and the tiny ones that swoop and eat bugs. This 'lil fella was so small he didn't even have fur on him nor were his wings developed. Impossible for me to tell what kind of bat he is. There is a lot of conflicting info on the internet. Some sites advise feeding them a glucose solution while others recommend diluted milk with yogurt. I wanted him to survive and assessed that I wasn't capable of nursing him. That's why I gave him away. However I'll be better prepared if we have another bat visit!

[e1t1bet]

Dude, please don't feel offended. If you've been in contact with a bat, please, go immediately and get the rabies injections.
Let the bat go. You don't want to die. I hope you know that rabies has no cure.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see that you had let it go. Still, get the rabies shots.

[Wolfheart]

Originally Posted by e1t1bet

Dude, please don't feel offended. If you've been in contact with a bat, please, go immediately and get the rabies injections.
Let the bat go. You don't want to die. I hope you know that rabies has no cure.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see that you had let it go. Still, get the rabies shots.

There's no reason to be offended dude in fact I would thank you for your concern. I've only touched the bat briefly while wearing an old sock as a glove on my hand. My skin hasn't come in contact with it. Do I still need the shots? I did take six shots of "Rabipur" as a child when I was bitten by a stray dog.

[e1t1bet]

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

There's no reason to be offended dude in fact I would thank you for your concern. I've only touched the bat briefly while wearing an old sock as a glove on my hand. My skin hasn't come in contact with it. Do I still need the shots? I did take six shots of "Rabipur" as a child when I was bitten by a stray dog.

I am glad that you took it in good spirit mate. I am not a doctor, I can't answer your question. However, good sense says that you should take some time out and consult a trustworthy doctor.

[Wolfheart]

Thanks for your posts guys. I know that there are many animal lovers on this forum. Many of us may have eperience caring for abandoned / orphaned/ injured animals. Please feel free to share your experiences / info with others.

I have a thing for cats and had several pet cats over the years. Many of them have been orphaned kittens. I must say that I have been privileged to learn much about these fascinating animals. So if anyone requires any kind of info about cats or kittens, I'm your man!

[Daewood]

Nice thread.
Once a baby pigeon affected with some deadly disease was left stranded in our sunshade. Googled and gave some it some food/remedies. But it was too sick and died in a couple of days.

[Wolfheart]

Was it abandoned by it's parents? I think young chicks (no pun intended ) need a lot of warmth and regular feeding by parents. I hope the chick didn't have avian flu.

[Dippy]

Took a second kitten found with in a week in my building to the stray animal shelter at Malad. The first one I took was very young and it died two days after I dropped her off. This one is slightly grown so I hope it survives.

The problem is the kids in my building they picked up the kitten and scattered them in various places across the building premises. That way even the poor mother cat couldnt find them.

No offense to anyone but this is one reason I have a somewhat dislike against today's generation of young kids. They should really be taught by parents on how to treat young animals.

@Wolfheart: Where is Karuna in Mumbai?

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

Was it abandoned by it's parents? I think young chicks (no pun intended ) need a lot of warmth and regular feeding by parents. I hope the chick didn't have avian flu.

No it fell off from a higher place where these pigeon parents were staying.
they had 2 babies. One of the babies was healthy. The other one was sick and fell down.
Initially we tried keeping it back in it's home but it fell down again after a few hours. Don't know whether the parents pushed it away for fear of the disease spreading to them. It was 'pox' i guess.

[Wolfheart]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Took a second kitten found with in a week in my building to the stray animal shelter at Malad. The first one I took was very young and it died two days after I dropped her off. This one is slightly grown so I hope it survives.

@Wolfheart: Where is Karuna in Mumbai?

Karuna are based in Andheri (West). You can call them on 022-26701413 or 9819100100.

Kittens have a very high mortality rate. That's why cats give birth to a litter of atleast 3-6 so that atleast one survives. The first thing to do is to take the kitten to a vet and get it de-wormed. Many stray kittens die because they have worms in their abdomen which get passed by the mother. The vet would also be able to tell you if an abandoned kitten is dehydrated or needs glucose etc so that it gets a fighting chance. Once the kitten is fortified, you can drop it off at the shelter or have someone adopt it.

If you find a really young one who hasn't opened it's eyes yet (kittens are born with their eyes shut) just keep it in a really warm (blanket, towel etc), dark and sterile place and then seek assistance.

[mayankk]

if anyone from delhi/NCR spots some animal in need, they can contact the numbers in the image.
I picked this pamphlet from "sattvik" in saket(ugh!!its not for the rajinder-tastebud-people!), scanned and circulated it everyone i know.....


EDIT:number for noida is:
NOIDA:98107-04826
got hidden behind the tbhp logo...

[decode]

I have 6 small bats visiting my "living room" window everyday. They will come by 7AM and will be hanging there in different positions till 7PM. They leave for their shift by 7PM and come back on time.